Bloomberg (October 22)
“Six months into Donald Trump’s trade war, the resilience of Chinese exports is proving just how essential many of its products remain even after US levies of 55%.” The weaknesses of Trump’s tariffs are becoming clear. They “appear somewhat limited in their ability to control what American firms import, as China’s sway over sectors such as rare earths and electronics makes its products hard to dislodge.” On top of that, loopholes play a factor. “American importers are able to pay a lower levy by declaring the customs value of goods based on their first sale in a third country, and then raising the price when the items reach a US port. Transhipping via Mexico or Vietnam means some firms are likely not paying the full tax.”
Tags: China, Customs value, Dislodge, Electronics, Essential, Exports, Importers, Loopholes, Mexico, Price, Products, Rare earths, Resilience, Tariffs, Trade war, Transhipping, Trump, U.S., Vietnam
The Ecoomist (October 13)
Politicians, economists, investors and others have long argued whether China’s economy is “a bubble waiting to burst” or “a sustainable success.” The argument is shifting, however, as “a new debate is now emerging, which is potentially far nastier. Much of the world falls into one camp: admiring China’s accomplishments, but also reeling from a deluge of Chinese exports. In the other camp is China, utterly convinced of the rightness of its economic model.”
Tags: Accomplishments, Admiring, Argument, Bubble, Burst, China, Convinced, Debate, Deluge, Economists, Economy, Emerging, Exports, Investors, Nastier, Politicians, Reeling, Rightness, Success, Sustainable
New York Times (September 16)
“While other countries have scrambled to meet President Trump’s demands to strike deals for reduced tariffs, China has kept to its own timetable.” The costly price has been a 15% drop in “China’s exports to the United States… so far this year.” China has successfully offset this with surging exports to other countries, but robust exports are “masking weakness in other parts of its economy. A persistent real estate downturn has wrecked [sic] havoc on the economy. Consumers are spending less, while joblessness among young people remains a major problem. China is also dealing with a stubborn deflationary spiral, spurred by overproduction in key industries and price wars.” Still, given its degree of media control, the Chinese government does not appear anxious about negotiating a trade deal with the U.S.
Tags: China, Consumers, Deals, Deflationary spiral, Demands, Downturn, Economy, Exports, Havoc, Joblessness, Overproduction, Price wars, Real estate, Spending, Surging, Tariffs, Trump, U.S., Weakness
The Guardian (August 4)
“The Swiss stock market has plunged, the cabinet has held crisis talks and the country’s president, Karin Keller-Sutter, has been accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House after Donald Trump hit the country with a shock 39% export tariff.” Roughly one-sixth of Switzerland’s exports go to the U.S. and prior to the phone call “negotiators believed they had secured a 10% tariff on exports.” Instead, Switzerland now confronts “one of the steepest US duties – only Laos, Myanmar and Syria had higher figures, at 40-41%.”
Tags: 10%, 39%, Cabinet, Crisis talks, Exports, Keller-Sutter, Laos, Myanmar, Negotiators, Phone call, Plunged, Shock, Stock market, Swiss, Tariff, Trump
Bloomberg (July 22)
“China has increasingly relied on third countries for the manufacturing of final products or components,” which has softened the blow of the tariff war. If, however, Trump succeeds “in targeting transshipments via higher levies or supply chain requirements, it would threaten 70% of China’s exports to the US and more than 2.1% of the Asian country’s gross domestic product,” with “a risk of additional economic damage if the restrictions weigh on countries’ desire to do business with China.”
Tags: China, Components, Economic damage, Exports, Final products, GDP, Levies, Manufacturing, Relied, Supply chain requirements, Tariff war, Threaten, Transshipments, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (June 25)
Steel and aluminum :”are trump’s worst tariffs.” They “will hit consumers, jobs and national security.” On June 3, President Trump announced that U.S. tariff rates on steel and aluminum would double to 50%, effective the next day.“ This move constitutes “the most reckless trade action of the Trump presidency.” The tariffs on these crucial manufacturing materials “will drive up the cost of U.S. manufactured products dramatically.” They may “drag the economy into a recession” and “will increase the probability of retaliation against American exports and an all-out trade war.” On top of that, the tariffs “will harm national security by increasing the cost of two essential components of defense procurement.”
Tags: 50, Aluminum, Consumers, Defense procurement, Economy, Exports, Jobs, Manufacturing, National security, Recession, Reckless, Retaliation, Steel, Tariffs, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (June 3)
“As exports of rare-earth magnets have virtually ground to a halt, carmakers face hard decisions about whether they can continue to keep some plants operating.” Major U.S. automakers are considering work arounds like “producing electric motors in Chinese factories or shipping made-in-America motors to China to have magnets installed.” If they do “end up shifting some production to China, it would amount to a remarkable outcome from a trade war initiated by President Trump with the intention of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.”
Tags: Automakers, Carmakers, China, Decisions, Electric motors, Exports, Factories, Halt, Manufacturing, Plants, Production, Rare-earth magnets, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Financial Times (May 9)
“China’s exports grew sharply in April despite Donald Trump’s ‘liberation’ day tariffs on shipments to the US, strengthening Beijing’s hand ahead of crucial trade negotiations due to start this weekend.” Chinese companies were able to divert “trade flows to south-east Asia, Europe and other destinations following the imposition of prohibitively high tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies.” Though year on year exports to the U.S. dropped by 21% in April, China’s overall global exports increased 8.1%.”
Tags: April, Beijing, China, Divert, Europe, Exports, Liberation day, Shipments, South-east Asia, Tariffs, Trade negotiations, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (March 18)
Top banking heads in Australia believe the Trump administration’s “protectionist policies would likely strain the global economy in the medium term with higher costs and lack of certainty.” However, they believe Australia is “better placed than Canada, which sells 85% of its exports to the U.S.” In contrast, Australia’s U.S. exports are, “small compared to its overall export trade,” amounting annually to only about $15 billion.
Tags: $15 billion, Australia, Banking, Canada, Certainty, Exports, Global economy, Higher costs, Protectionist policies, Strain, Trade, Trump administration
Barron’s (February 6)
“Of all Trump’s potential trade war targets, Mexico is by far the most vulnerable, with exports to the U.S. close to a quarter of gross domestic product. China’s figure is less than 3%.” But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a relative political novice, “taught a master class on how to play a weak hand.” She “deftly handled Donald Trump” while maintaining approval (at nearly 80%) at home.
Tags: Approval, China, Deftly, Exports, GDP, Mexico, Novice, Sheinbaum, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Vulnerable
